Psi-Watch Villany: Lord Gehenna (CR 18)

The WildC.A.T.s villian, Helspont has long been a favorite villian of mine. This is despite the fact that in the original miniseries, he was little more than a standard evil overlord. My love of the character can be solely traced to Jim Lee's design for him: a metallic alien Satan with butane-blue flames enshrouding his skull like face. What's more badass than that? 

So here is a homage villain based heavily on Helspont. At CR 18, Lord Gehenna may be even more threatening and lethal than his inspiration. The top image depicts Helspont and is by Jim Lee, from the original WildC.A.T.s run.  The second image is John Picot’s CGI rendition of Lord Gehenna.

Enjoy,

CHRIS

Lord Ghennna (CR 18)

Large LE Aberration (fire, psionic)

XP 153,600

Init +5 Senses Blindsight 60 ft, Darkvision 90 ft, lowlight vision, Perception +39

Languages Blooded Ghost, Common, Culture, English, several others

Aura Plasmic Furnace (5 ft inner aura 3d6 fire damage within a 30 ft outer aura that is considered a highly irradiated area)

Defense

AC 29 Touch 10 Flatfooted 28 (-1 size,+1 DEX, +19 natural)

HP 28d8 + 196 + 28 hp (350 HP)

FORT +16 REF +10 WILL +24

Damage Reduction 10/magic

Spell Resistance 24

Immune Cold, Electricity, Fire, Radiation, Suffocation/Vacuum

Offense

Spd 40 ft

Melee +25/+20/+15/+10 slam (2d8+5 bludgeoning plus 2d8 fire, 20/x3)

Ranged +25/+20/+15/+10 fire bolt (8d10 fire, 100 ft range increment, 20/x4)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 28^th)

Constant – Fireshield

At Will – Fireball (DC 25)

5x/day – Maximized Fireball (DC 25)

3x/day – Quickened Sunburst (DC 30)

Statistics

Str 21 Dex 13 Con 24 Int 30 Wis 27 Cha 22

Base Atk +21 CMB +27 CMD 38

Feats Dazzling Display (fire bolt), Diehard, Improved Initiative, Inevitable Victory, Lightning Reflexes, Maximized Spell-like Ability (fireball), Point Blank Shot, Quicken Spell-like Ability (sunburst), Shatter Defenses (fire bolt), Spell Focus (evocation), Starship Operations, Superficial Mindscan, Toughness, Weapon Focus (fire bolt)

Skills Acrobatics +15, Bluff +37, Computer Use +24, Craft (electronic) +17, Disable Device +15, Drive +8, Intimidate +37, Knowledge (arcana, geography, history, physical sciences, religion, streetwise, tactics)  all at +30, Perception +39, Sense Motive +39, Spellcraft +41, Stealth +29, Use Magic Device +37

Ecology

Environment any

Organization solitary or accompanied by several Blooded Ghost servants and extraplanetary threats, including Lifechained monsters

Treasure triple standard (mostly weapons, exotic alien energy sources and Blooded Ghost cultural artifacts)

Special Abilities

            Ancient Beyond Imagination (SU)

            Lord Gehenna is impossibly ancient, not just millions, but several billion years old; his mere presence unsettles psi-sensitives. Echoes of his vast intellect and uncounted eons of memories can destroy unwary minds.

            All creatures with the Psionic subtype suffer 1d4 points of temporary INT damage for each round they remain within 60 ft of Lord Gehenna. A DC WILL Save can prevent the damage for one round, but a new save must be made each round the Psionic creature remains within Gehenna’s presence. Creatures reduced to 0 INT in this manner are slain, suffering fatal strokes and uncontrolled psi-discharges that literally liquefy their brains within their skull.

            Immortality (SU)

            Lord Gehenna cannot be truly slain. He has survived longer than life has existed on Earth, and will survive until the eventual heat death of the universe. Even if Lord Gehenna is destroyed, his consciousness can reform a new body in as little as 3d6 months. If Lord Gehenna can ever be permanently destroyed, and the exact means of doing so, are left for the game master to decide. Alternately, finding a way to trap his consciousness is a possibility for local game masters to decide the feasibility of.

            Inevitable Victory (SU)

            Occasionally Lord Gehenna’s strange perception of space-time allows him fleeting glimpses from further up the time stream, when the Blooded Ghost race brings down the Psi-Watch orbital platform, and begins its long awaited counterstrike against their hated enemies, the Culture.

           

            Up to 13 times per day, Lord Gehenna may attempt an Intelligence check (DC 8 + your opponent’s CR or Hit Dice) If this intelligence check succeeds, Gehenna recover a memory shared by a Blooded Ghost in an alternate future that reveals how your enemy was finally brought down by some futuristic Blooded Ghost warrior.

            If the Intelligence check succeeds, Gehenna learns:

• Your target’s Defense Score, including touch and flatfooted scores.
• If your target has any form of resistances or immunities, including Damage Reduction.
• If your target suffers additional damage from any type of attack, and if so, which kind.

            Making this check is a free action. You may not take 10 or 20 on this check and may not retry a failed check against the same target for at least 24 hours. A failed check expends a daily use of this feat. Lord Gehenna receives a +5 circumstance bonus on this INT check against creatures who have chosen the Time Crosser starting occupation.

            Plasmic Furnace (SU)

            Lord Gehenna’s body constantly emits lethal levels of heat and radioactivity. A 30 ft radius around Lord Gehenna is considered highly irradiated; this area remains radioactive for up to an hour after Lord Gehenna leaves the area. Areas where the alien spends long periods of time are permanently radioactive.

            Lord Gehenna’s body is covered in shifting plasma flames that automatically inflict 3d6 fire damage to all creatures and objects within 5 ft (no save.)

            Superficial Mind Scan (SU)

            Lord Gehenna can read the minds of those around him, easily scanning their surface thoughts. The amount of information revealed depends on how long Gehenna studies a particular area or subject. Gehenna may manifest this ability at will, and maintain the scan for up to 8 minutes. Manifesting this ability is a standard action, and Gehenna must rest at least one minute between activations of this talent.

• First round of the scan: Reveals the presence or absence of thinking minds (from conscious creatures with an INT score of 1 or higher) within a 60 ft cone emanating from you. You do not pinpoint scanned creatures or know their exact location.
• Second round of the scan: You know the number of sentient creatures (INT score of 5+) and the INT score of any creature within your scanning range.
• Third round of the scan: You detect the surface thoughts of any mind within the area. The subject can attempt a WILL Save (DC 12 + your WIS modifier) to avoid having its thoughts read. Animals and similar low intellect creatures have simple, instinctual drives you can pick up.

If the subject succeeds on a WILL save, Gehenna must manifest this ability again to have another chance. Each round Lord Gehenna concentrates on maintaining the scan, you can scan another 60 ft cone. The power can penetrate barriers, but may be stopped by 1 ft of stone, 1 foot of common metal, a thin lead sheet, or 3 ft of wood or dirt.

           

            Tactical Immortality (EX)
            Older than the sun itself, Lord Gehenna can outwit even the most experienced enemy. Once per encounter, as a swift action, Lord Gehenna can activate his tactical immortality. Doing so allows Lord Gehenna to completely negate any successful attack against himself, and reassign the negated attack’s damage to any visible enemy creature within 30 ft. Lord Gehenna cannot negate area effect attacks in this manner, only individually targeted attacks, whether melee or ranged.

Roleplaying

            Lord Gehenna is a powerful alien intelligence, a creature of steel, flame and arrogance. Lord Gehenna is worshipped as a living god by the Blooded Ghost race, though he is not truly of their kind. Instead, Gehenna is a kind of cosmic ghost, possibly older than the current universe. The ancient warlord drifts through the universe as a disembodied consciousness, only dimly aware of the passage of time, even as he (it?) slumbers for millions of years. Occasionally, Lord Gehenna wakes, and constructs a body for himself, forging it from ultra-dense metals found at the heart of dying pulsars, and wreathed in star-like plasma. Gehenna has awakened at least three times during the recorded history of the Blooded Ghost race, most recently coalescing into material form in the Earth year 1993 CE; prior to that, Gehenna awakened 35 million years prior, and began the Blooded Ghosts’ long war with the Culture.

            In his current incarnation, Lord Gehenna is a behemoth with an armored hull composed of some kind of gleaming, nearly indestructible golden alloy. Shifting plates of blood red alloy accent Gehenna’s golden armor, and shift and morph with at the alien warlord’s whim to provide even greater levels of indestructibility. Gehenna’s face is a snarling, eyeless, titanium skull wreathed in plasma flames. Lord Gehenna’s internal nuclear processes bathe his surroundings in lethal levels of heat and radiation; an ordinary human would die in minutes merely standing close to the alien warlord.

           

            Lord Gehenna is insufferably arrogant; he considers unmodified homo sapiens to be mere vermin, and will never say a single word to an ordinary human. He is only slightly more forthcoming with enhanced humans, and while he respects the Culture’s martial prowess, he dreams of the race’s eventual genocide. Lord Gehenna considers the Blooded Ghost race species to be prized pets, like specially bred hunting beasts, and holds some dim affect\ion for the species.